Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain and legendary batter, endorsed left-armer Arshdeep Singh to play ahead of Harshit Rana for India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Indian side kicks off its Champions Trophy campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium. The same venue will also witness the high-voltage India-Pakistan match on February 23.
The now-expert Ponting pointedly talked about how he would like to get Arshdeep in the field for India instead of Harshit Rana, given that Jasprit Bumrah has not yet recovered.
Bumrah was ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 on February 11 because of a lower back injury he sustained during the fifth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia in Sydney last month.
Ponting feels that Rana has done alright with whatever opportunity he has been given ahead of the ICC event, but left-armer Arshdeep is better suited for bowling in all phases of the 50-over format.
“I’d go with the left-armer, and that’s Arshdeep,” Ponting said on the ICC Review.
“We know how good he has been in T20 cricket, and if we consider the skillset that he possesses, it’s probably very similar to what Bumrah does with the ball in the new ball and death overs, and that’s what India will miss.”
“That doesn’t take anything away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got plenty of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don’t think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh’s are.”
Formerly Australian captain feels a left-arm fast bowler in the playing eleven is always ‘critical”.
And just that left-arm variation, someone that can bowl left-arm with a new ball and move a new ball. We know how important they are and how critical they can ever be, especially in big tournaments when you’ve got a lot of right-handers at the top. Personally, if I were India, I would lean that way.
Noted as the only captain to have won two ICC Champions Trophy titles, the Indian team is looking handsome just before the start of the tournament being hosted across three venues in Pakistan and one in Dubai, though with a bitter pill of missing Bumrah.
“I am so glad to have Shreyas Iyer back in the team and performing well in that middle order. He was really great,” he added.
More importantly for India, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were back amongst the runs, which is exactly what they need to do heading into big tournaments.”
Rohit, Virat, your experienced players, you need them to stand up in big tournaments and in big moments. So, everything for India looks good right now, except for losing Bumrah the other day.”
“Most importantly for India, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are finding their way back into runs, which is what they need to do leading into big tournaments.”
“For India, expectations have rested on Rohit and Virat, experienced players who should step up in the big moments while in big tournaments. That is, except perhaps for the adverse circumstances surrounding Bumrah, everything else looks stable.”
